This is the Intelligence Feed.
Dispatch Washington · May 20, 2026 President Donald Trump postponed a planned military strike on Iran, set for Tuesday, May 19, after direct appeals from three Gulf heads of state, exposing a sharp fault line between regional allies pressing for a negotiated exit and American and Israeli hawks who argue the military campaign remains unfinished…
Dispatch Washington · May 18, 2026 Poland dispatched two deputy defense ministers to Washington this week to demand an explanation after the Pentagon canceled a planned rotational deployment of 4,000 U.S. troops to the country. The Pentagon canceled the deployment without public announcement, a decision that two U.S. officials confirmed to reporters. Defense Secretary Pete…
Dispatch Washington · May 18, 2026 The Department of Homeland Security has terminated plans to install a sensitive compartmented information facility at Dakota State University in South Dakota, according to three people with knowledge of the decision, POLITICO reported. The cancellation closes a chapter that began in January 2026, when reporting first surfaced that DHS…
Dispatch Washington · May 18, 2026 The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 134C on May 18, replacing General License 134B, which expired May 16. OFAC's new instrument authorizes transactions "ordinarily incident and necessary" to the delivery, sale, or offloading of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded onto vessels on…
Dispatch Washington · May 18, 2026 President Donald Trump announced May 18 that he had called off a military strike on Iran scheduled for that day after the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates urged him to allow ongoing negotiations to proceed. Trump stated in a Truth Social post that Qatari…
Dispatch Washington · May 18, 2026 Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned Monday that any U.S. military strike on Cuba "would trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences," escalating an already charged exchange between Havana and Washington as the Trump administration signals it will not accept the status quo [1][2]. The warning came hours after Axios reported…
Dispatch Washington · May 17, 2026 The United States announced on May 15 that the Israel-Lebanon cessation of hostilities, originally established April 16, will run an additional 45 days. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the extension, stating that the "April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress."…
Dispatch Washington · May 17, 2026 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth canceled the planned nine-month rotation of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division to Poland this week, halting the overseas movement of more than 4,000 soldiers and their equipment after the unit had already begun deploying. Two officials told the Associated Press the…
Dispatch Washington · May 17, 2026 President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on May 16 that a 20-year moratorium on Iran's nuclear program would be sufficient for a deal, a public break from his administration's longstanding position that Iran must permanently and irreversibly dismantle all enrichment capacity. The shift allows for Iran…
Dispatch Washington · May 17, 2026 President Donald Trump departed Beijing on May 16 without committing to a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he would "make a determination over the next fairly short period" after two days of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. [1][2] The statement…